Combination counter and table



Sept. 7, 193 7.

F. c. WOOD 2,092,196 COMBINATION COUNTER AND TABLE Filed July 10, 1935 5Sheets-Sheet l i a I I] I] I 1' I I I 15 :3 1 I F J 61 I t I i 60 35 [I]l l 5' I 6 I I W I I p a? l I 16 [HZ/87%: Fed C Wood,

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. C. WOOD COMBINATION COUNTER AND TABLE Filed July 10,1935 J %w J W Z a m 5. E f

f j w 3 n m llillrl m II v @H/ I J 7 I m 7 a m m m w 5 7 l n J Z w 4 m mSept. 7, 193 7.

Sept 7, 1937.

F. C. WOOD COMBINATION COUNTER AND TABLE Filed July 10, 1935 sSheets-Sheet s fled C 770062 W Patented Sept. 7, 1937 w e r l at) SYA ESFred C. Wood, Winnetka, 111., assignor to Montgomery Ward & (30.,Incorporated, Winnetka,

ill, a corporation of Application July 10,

Claims.

The present invention has to do with store furniture and is particuarlyconcerned with the counter and table structures thereof.

Its primary object is to provide a combination fixture the parts ofwhich are so organized and related that it may be converted readily intoa cabinet counter, an open-back counter, or a table, as occasion ordemands may require. This places at the disposal of stores and shops arelatively inexpensive article which can be adapted and utilized to meetvarying conditions for the storage and display of merchandise.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a fixture of thecharacter mentioned the construction of which is such that it may beshipped from the factory in a knocked-down condition and quickly andeasily assembled at the point of use without the employment of skilledlabor or the need of special tools.

The invention also seeks to provide a combination fixture wherein theparts are interchangeable and easily replaced and may be made bydifferent manufacturers for assembly at the point of use. Suchinterchangeability of the parts permits them to be standardized,wherefore they may be omitted or added to so as to meet the conditionsof use and provide the ultimate form of the fixture required by suchcondi tions.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the nature of theimprovements is better understood, the invention consistingsubstantially in the novel construction, combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

The form of the invention made the basis of the present disclosurepresents a practical embodiment thereof. It is to be considered,however, as illustrative of the application of the invention and not asimposing restriction or limitation thereon, the invention beingsusceptible to change, modification and variation.

In the drawin s,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a store fixture constructed inaccordance with the present invention and embodied in the form of acabinet counter;

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the invention as embodied in atable converted from the form of cabinet counter illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 3--3, Fig. 1;

Fig. l is a similar view on the line 3-4, Fig. 1;

lllinois 1935, Serial No. 30,603

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional plan view, on an enlarged scale, as on theline 5-5, Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view, as on the line 5-6, Fig. 1, parts alsobeing broken away for further clarity of disclosure; and

Fig. '7 is a detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through thesheave of one of the sliding doors and the sliding door rail on whichthe same is supported.

Referring in detail to the accompanying drawings, the numeral l6designates the top of the herein described fixture. Preferably, it iscomposed of laminations or layers of suitable wood so as to provide aveneered construction. This top serves as such whether the fixture beembodied in the form of a closed cabinet, an openback counter or as atable. At opposite sides of the top l9 are depending front and rearaprons H and I2, and at the ends of the top H are located side aprons l3and M. These aprons are relatively heavy in cross section in order torender the top rigid and prevent it from sagging. They are afiixed tothe under side of the top lll, as by glue, screws or other suitableattaching means, and combined with the top It in this manner the apronsand the top constitute a unit of the structure which may be assembled atthe factory and shipped as such to the point of use or assembly of thefixture. At the points of joinder of the aprons and the top, and locatedat the inside surfaces of the aprons, a plurality of glue blocks l5 isarranged in order to strengthen the structure and maintain the aprons inproper relation to the top.

It will be observed that the ends of the aprons ll, l2, l3, and l lterminate short of the end and. side edges of the top l0 so as toprovide spaces at the contiguous ends of the aprons. Into these spacesis fitted a plurality of square legs Hi, the upper ends of the legsabutting against 40 the adjacent ends of the aprons so as to fill thespaces at these ends. Adjacent to each end of each of the aprons avertical groove I? is formed in the inner face thereof. Each of thesegrooves receives a vertical flangelB which is bent at right angles to aterminal contact flange l9 formed at the end of an anchoring plate 29.The contact fianges l9 are disposed in such angular relation to theanchoring plates 20 that said flanges IS fit in flat engagement with theinner faces of the aprons ll, l2, l3 and I4. Each of the anchoringplates 28 is provided with a lag screw Zl, the threaded shank of whichscrew enters the adjacent leg member of the fixture. By properadjustment of the screw 2! the anchoring plate 28 with which it isassociated is tightly held across the angle of the adjacent ends of theapron members, and the upper end of the leg member is drawn into tightengagement with such ends of the aprons. By loosening the screw 29 ofeach of the anchoring plates 29 the adjacent leg member may be releasedfrom the position which it occupies in contact with the aprons to permitthe legs to be shifted to different positions as will be presentlyexplained.

The rear apron l2 and the side aprons i3 and It are provided at theirlower faces with longitudinally extending grooves 22. Similar grooves 23are formed at the lower face of the front apron l 8, two of thesegrooves being proyided in the apron ii. These grooves are designed toreceive the upper edges of a vertical rearpanel 23 and vertical endpanels 24 and 25, the upper edges of these panels being rabbeted to formguide ribs 25 which fit into the grooves 22, and thereby establish adetachable connection between the panels and the aprons. When sopositioned with respect to the aprons the rear and side panels are heldtherein by tie-in angle iron brackets 2'5 which are screwed or otherwisefastened to the lower edges of the panels at the inner sides thereof.

At the front of the fixture is arranged a pair of oppositely openingsliding doors 28, also of panel formation. The upper edges of thesedoors are rabbeted to provide guide ribs 29, and these guide ribs arereceived by the grooves 28 of the front apron i I so that the doors 28may slide back and forth in these grooves. The doors 28 are arranged indifferent vertical planes so as to pass each other in their slidingmovement, and this gives access to the storage space within the fixturewhen either door is slid to open position.

The panel members 23, 2t, and 25, and the sliding doors 28, may be ofany desired construction, but preferably they comprise side stiles 3d, atop stile 3i and a bottom stile 32, at the inner edges of which isfitted the panel proper 33.

At the lower portion of the fixture is located a main shelf 36, whichconstitutes the flooring of the cabinet. This is of such dimensions,both as to length and width, as to encompass the space at the innerfaces of the leg members it. This main shelf 3 is associated with arectangular frame constituted by front and rear rib rails 35 and 36 andside rails 3? and 38 which are joined at their meeting ends by anglestraps these angle straps being screwed to the adjacent ends of the ribrails, and thus holding them together to constitute the rectangularframe referred to. The rib rails 35, 3t, 3?, and 38 are glued, screwedor otherwise suitably fastened to the under side of the main shelf 3% soas to be affixed thereto, and to be placed in and removed from the spacewithin the leg members it in the assembly of the fixture or in theconversion of the latter to the form which it is desired for use. Asliding door rail til is positioned on the front rib rail 35 and securedthereto by gluing, screwing or other suitable fastening means, and theupper face of the rail it. is provided with a pair of parallel tracks 49for support of the lower edges of the sliding doors 2'8. To permit thesliding movement of the doors 28 in relation to the rail lil the loweredges of the doors 28 have a plurality of sheaves 2 set therein. Thesesheaves are carried by suitable casings at that are r ceived by recessescut in the lower edges of the doors 28, the sheaves 42 being in rollingcontact with the tracks ii so as to travel thereon under the movementsof the doors 28.

At each end of the sliding door rail 39 a tenon id is formed, saidtenons being received by mortises 45 formed in the opposing faces of theleg members it at the front of the fixture. The tenons are held in themortises 15 by fastening screws '25, or their equivalent, which fit inholes drilled in the leg members 56 so a to permit the screws 46 toengage the tenons. In this manner the sliding door rail it has adetachable connection with the leg members it so as to permit readyremoval of the sliding door rail and replacement thereof when thefixture is changed to the form in which it is desired to be used.

Due to the fact that the main shelf 34, the rib rails 35, 37, and 35,and the sliding door rail 1% are held together in the manner described,these parts constitute a unitary structure which may be assembled at themill or factory and transported as such' unit to the point of assemblyor use of the same. When this unit is positioned between the leg membersit it is held in position therein by a series of tie-in angle ironbrackets 3?, which are screwed in place by attachment to the leg membersis and to the rib rails.

An intermediate shelf 48 is provided for dividing the space between thetop it and the main shelf 36 into upper and lower compartments. Thisintermediate shelf extends between the leg members, and at its center isconnected to a supporting frame 49, which is rectangular in form andconstruction and extends'crosswise of the intermediate shelf 38. Thelatter is secured to the supporting frame 49 by screws 56 or equivalentfastenings. The ends of the intermediate shelf 48 rest upon additionalsupporting frames 59 one of which is carried by each of the end panels24 and 25. These end supporting frames are connected to the panels byscrews 52 or their equivalent, and the ends of the intermediate shelf 68likewise may be screwed, or otherwise suitably fastened, to the endsupporting frames 5!. The supporting frames 39 and 5! rest upon the mainshelf 34, and thereby give the required support for the intermediateshelf 58 and its load.

The rear rib rail 36 is provided at its ends with tenons 53 which arereceived by and fit within mortises 54 formed in the opposing faces ofthe rear leg members it, and these tenons are held within theirrespective mortises by screws 55 thus establishing a detachableconnection between the rear leg members and the rear rib rail.

A filler rail 5E5 is positioned between the side rib rails 31 and 38 andthe lower edge of the side panels 2 and 25, said filler rails 56likewise being glued or otherwise suitably fastened to the side ribrails and the main shelf 34. The tiein angle iron brackets 2? arescrewed to the filler rails 56, and thereby support the side panels 2dand 25 in position between the leg members and the aprons with whichthey are associated.

To hold the rear panel 23 into position tie-in angle iron brackets 5?are employed, the brackets being screwed, or otherwise suitablyconnected, to the lower inner face of the rear panel 23 and to the rearrib rail 36. I

As the fixture is assembled in the manner above described it constitutesa cabinet counter, being closed on all sides, with access to itsinterior by sliding the doors 28 with respect to each other in order toopen the space within the cabinet.

stored within on the main shelf 34 and the intermediate shelf G8.

If it be desired to constitute the fixture as an open-back counter, itis but necessary to omit the sliding doors 28 in the assembly of theparts, thus permitting free access to the interior of the cabinet at theside thereof from which the doors are omitted.

It has been premised that one of the forms of the fixture is that of atable, and this embodiment is shown in Fig. 2. When so embodied, theunitary structure formed by the main shelf 33, with the rib rails 35,36, 31', and 38, and the sliding door rail Q0, is omitted. Theintermediate shelf 63 and the central support 49 likewise are omitted,together with the sliding doors 28, the rear panel 23 and the sidepanels 2 3 and 25. This skeletonizes the structure, and of those partsincluded in the form of the fixture as a cabinet counter only the topl9, the aprons i l i2, i3, and Hi and the leg members 55 are used in thetable form. In lieu of the leg members l6 being positioned as in Figs.1, 3, 4, and 6, so that the mortises 45 and 54 are positioned at theinner opposing faces of the leg members, each of the leg members i8 isshifted from the position as the same appears in Fig. 6 so that themortises face each other as in Fig. 2, that is to say the shiftedposition of the leg members is such that the front leg members havetheir mortises facing inwardly towards the rear leg members, and thelatter have their mortises facing inwardly towards the front legmembers, the mortises thus being positioned at right angles to thepositions which they occupy as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, and 6. Inshifting the leg members E6 to change their positions as described, theyare moved in a clockwise direction around the top II], as viewed in Fig.6, each leg beingshifted to the position occupied previously by the nextcontiguous leg. This causes a rotation of each leg to the extent of tothe position which it previously occupied and effects the change in thepositions of the mortises 45 and 54 referred to, or as shown in Fig. 2.When it is desired to change the structure back to that of a counter theleg members are moved in a counterclockwise direction with reference tothe top H3, and thereby resume their original positions with themortises 45 and 54 shown as in Fig. 6.

For the proper support and strengthening of the leg members it in thetable form of the fixture header rails 58 are associated with the legmembers it, one of these rails 58 being positioned between the front andrear leg members at each end of the table. The rails 58 are connected tothe leg members by mortise-and-tenon connections 59 held together byscrews 69, or their equivalent. The inner face of each of the headerrails 58 has a dovetailed slot (it cut vertically therein at itsmid-portion, and a stretcher rail 62 extends between the header rails58, each end of said stretcher rail 62 being provided with a dovetailedrib 63 which fits within the adjacent groove Ed. The stretcher andheader rails are thereby connected, and the frame thus formed holds theleg members 16 in rigid relation to afford adequate sup-port for the topit.

Dhe various panel sections are provided with reinforcing straps 64 tothe end that the adjacent portions of the stiles of these panel sectionsmay be held in proper relation to each other.

That the main shelf 3 and the intermediate shelf 58 may properly fit andbe received by the leg members IS, the corner portions of these shelvesare notched, as at 65, and these notches receive the leg members 56 sothat the corner portions of the shelves may fit therearound.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the presentinvention provides a convertible structure which may be utilized eitheras a cabinet counter, an open-back counter, or simply as a table. It isof the knocked-down type, and its parts may be made in unitary form soas to be shipped in the knocked-down arrangement to the point ofassembly or use, and there assembled in the desired form of the fixtureto meet the demands of usage or the character of merchandise to bestored or displayed.

I claim:

1. A combination fixture of the class described, comprising a top, apronmembers carried by said top at its sides and ends, the adjacent ends ofsaid apron members being spaced from each other, leg members fitted inthe spaces formed at the adjacent ends of the apron members, a shelfarranged in the space between the leg members, a plurality of panelsections arranged at one side and the ends of the top and removablyfitted between the leg members, a removable intermediate shelf arrangedbetween said shelf and the top of the fixture, supports for the ends ofsaid intermediate shelf carried by the end panel sections and on whichthe ends of said intermediate shelf are adapted to rest, a supportcarried by the intermediate shelf at its under side and adapted to restupon the first mentioned Shelf to sustain the intermediate shelf and itsload between its ends, and closure means arranged at the other side ofthe top for the space enclosed by said panel sections.

2. A combination fixture of the class described, comprising a top, apronmembers carried by the top and depending therefrom, the adjacent ends ofsaid apron members being spaced from each other, a plurality of legmembers having their upper ends fitted in the spaces at the adjacentends of the apron members and connected to the latter, a shelf locatedbeneath the top and arranged in the space within the leg members, meansfor detachably connecting said shelf to the leg members, a plurality ofpanel sections fitted between the leg members, the upper edges of saidpanel sections having detachable engagement with the apron members, andmeans for detachably fastening the panel sections and said shelf formaintaining said sections in removable positions between the legsections.

3. A combination fixture of the class described, comprising a top, apronmembers carried by the top and depending therefrom, the adjacent ends ofsaid apron members being spaced from each other, a plurality of legmembers having their upper ends fitted in the spaces at the adjacentends of the apron members and connected to the latter, a shelf locatedbeneath the top and arranged in the space within the leg members, meansfor detachably connecting said shelf to the leg members, a plurality ofpanel sections fitted between the leg members, the under faces of saidapron members being provided with longitudinal grooves, the upper edgesof the panel sections being provided with guide ribs fitted into thegrooves of the apron members to removably engage the panel sections withthe apron members, and means for detachably fastening the panei sectionsand said shelf for maintaining said sections in removable positionbetween the leg sections and with said guide ribs fitted to saidgrooves.

v 4. A combination fixture of the class described, comprising a top unitincluding a top and apron members carried by and depending from the top,the adjacent ends of said apron members being spaced from each other, ashelf unit located beneath the top unit and including a plurality offront, rear and side rails constituting a frame and a shelf carried bythe latter, a plurality of leg members having their upper ends fitted inthe spaces at the adjacent ends of the apron members and connected tothe latter to connect the leg members to the top unit, means forattaching the leg members to the shelf unit, a plurality of panelsections fitted between the leg members, the upper edges of said panelsections having detachable engagement with the apron members,

and means for detachably fastening the panel sections and the shelf unitfor maintaining said sections in removable position between the legsections 5. A combination fixture of the class described, comprising a.top unit including a top and apron members carried by and depending fromthe top, the adjacent ends of said apron members being spaced from eachother, a shelf unit located beneath the top unit and including aplurality of front, rear and side rails constituting a frame and a shelfcarried by the latter, a plurality of leg members having their upperends fitted in the spaces at the adjacent ends of the apron members andconnected to the latter to connect the leg members to the top unit,means for attaching the leg members to the shelf unit, a plurality ofpanel sections fitted between the leg members, the under faces of saidapron members being provided with longitudinal grooves, the upper edgesof the panel sections being provided with guide ribs fitted into thegrooves of the apron members to removably engage the panel sections withthe apron members, and means for detachably 'fastening the panelsections and'the shelf unit for maintaining said sections in removableposition between the leg sections and with said guide ribs fitted tosaid grooves.

FRED C. WOOD.

